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Measuring the length of a second might seem simple, but this history of the time unit from TED-Ed shows how the road to the modern, standardised second was anything but. Written by John Kitching, a Fellow at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, the video details how the advent of global communications and transit systems left the world in need of a more precise and universal understanding of a second – and how that search ultimately led to the atomic clock.
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Art
In his poem ‘London’, William Blake crafted a bleak vision of the city he loved
9 minutes
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Ageing and death
We’re not the only animals that appear to grieve. What are the implications?
6 minutes
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Archaeology
How researchers finally solved the puzzle of the oldest known map of the world
18 minutes
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Evolution
How – and how not – to think about the role randomness plays in evolution
60 minutes
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Art
A prisoner in Guantánamo finds some escape in building intricate model ships
6 minutes
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Making
Forging a cello from pieces of wood demands its own form of virtuosity
27 minutes
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Education
Scenes from a school year paint a refreshingly nuanced portrait of rural America
25 minutes
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Physics
The rhythms of a star system inspire a pianist’s transfixing performance
5 minutes
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Art
Watch as Japan’s surplus trees are transformed into forest-tinted crayons
4 minutes